As heads of state gathered last week at
the summit of the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, in Namibia,
their discussions were dominated by the progress
of Zimbabwe's precarious power-sharing political agreement, which includes
pledges to address a repressive
media environment. Leading the mediation in the Zimbabwean crisis has been
neighboring South Africa, which has been seen as a one-eyed man among the blind
in terms of democracy and press freedom in Southern Africa. Yet the moral
authority of South African president Jacob Zuma in Zimbabwe's situation is
undermined by proposals of his African National Congress-led government to
restrict the vibrant press in South Africa.